Port of Tilbury-Police Constable

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The Metropolitan Police was institutionally corrupt in its investigation of the murder of private detective Daniel Morgan. The IOPC is to be reviewed over its handling of the case.

Alastair Morgan (right), the brother of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan, with his partner Kirsteen Knight and family solicitor Raju Bhatt (centre) speaking to the media following the publication of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report, at Church House, in Westminster.

Date - 15th June 2021
By - Chris Smith

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has been urged to consider resigning by the family of Daniel Morgan following inquiry findings that the force had been institutionally corrupt in its handling of investigations into his murder.

The inquiry delivered a blistering verdict on The Met. It had spent years covering up for corrupt officers in a bid to protect its own reputation.

Dame Cressida Dick was personally criticised as the inquiry detailed how the force had failed to enable access to the Holmes database.

The family of Daniel Morgan, who have spent decades campaigning for answers, said the Commissioner should consider her position.

HM Inspectorate has been instructed by the Home Secretary to decide what further steps should be taken and a review of the Independent Office for Police Conduct will be brought forward.

In a statement to the Commons, Priti Patel said: “The report itself is deeply alarming and finds examples of corrupt behaviour – corrupt behaviour was not limited to the first investigation, that the Metropolitan Police made a litany of mistakes and that this irreparably damaged the chances of successful prosecution of Daniel Morgan’s murder.”

Baroness Nuala O’Loan, chair of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, said: “The Metropolitan Police were not honest in their dealings with Daniel Morgan’s family, or the public.”

She concluded that the force had concealed failings in its first investigation and covered up the role of corrupt officers.

She added: “That lack of candour, over so many years, has been a barrier to proper accountability.”

The inquiry’s recommendations in the 1,200 page report include:

a recommendation that officers declare membership of organisations such as the freemasons

that vetting procedures should be tightened

greater protection be given to whistleblowers.

The Baroness said the decades of failure to deal with the case had made a significant impact of the Morgan family.

She said: “The family of Daniel Morgan has suffered grievously as a consequence of the failure to bring his murderer or murderers to justice, the unwarranted assurances which they were given, the misinformation which was put into the public domain, and the denial of the failings in investigation, including failing to acknowledge professional incompetence, individuals’ venal behaviour, and managerial and organisational failures.

“We believe that concealing or denying failings for the sake of an organisation’s public image is dishonesty on the part of the organisation for reputational benefit, and constitutes a form of institutional corruption.”

The case

Daniel Morgan, a private detective was found dead with an axe in his head in the car park of a South London pub in 1987.

He was in partnership at Southern Investigations which had links to journalists at the News of the World and Metropolitan police officers.

The motive for his murder was that he was about to go public with details of police corruption.  

The aftermath 

There have been four major police investigations into Daniel Morgan’s murder, an inquest, several disciplinary investigations, complaints investigations and more but no-one has ever been convicted of his murder.

Three men were awarded £414,000 for malicious prosecution after they were charged in connection with the case.

The findings

The inquiry found failures at every stage – from the initial investigation’s failure to properly secure the crime scene to unwarranted assurances that were given to the family.

A review by Hampshire Police was found to have been compromised by the inclusion of a senior Met officer on the team.

An inquiry was established by then-Home Secretary Theresa May in 2013 which was expected to take 12 months. Delays in being given documents by the Met was a significant factor in the delays until its publication today.

One delay resulted from the refusal to grant access to a police internal data system HOLMES.

The report said: “The panel has never received any reasonable explanation for the refusal over seven years by [then] Assistant Commissioner Dick and her successors.”

The inquiry also revealed how other forces and senior Met officers knew that the case was toxic.

In 2000, an attempt to get an outside force to reinvestigate the case failed because those contacted refused to take it on, citing a lack of resources.

DCS David Cook, who was then appointed by the Met as Senior Investigating Officer to look again, to the inquiry: “I had difficulty finding a deputy SIO. The first couple that I approached, once they found out what the job was, did what I should’ve done and that was run a mile.”

The inquiry confirmed he and his wife, former officer and Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames, were put under surveillance by the News of the World.

The fallout

Priti Patel, who has already questioned whether the Commissioner should have her contract renewed, told MPs: “The report accuses the Metropolitan Police of a form of institutional corruption.

“Police corruption is a betrayal of everything policing stands for in this country. It erodes public confidence in our entire criminal justice system. It undermines democracy and civilised society. We look to the police to protect us and so they are invested with great power,” she said.

“We cannot ignore the findings of this report. Its recommendations are wide ranging and far reaching across aspects of policing, conduct, culture and transparency in public institutions.”

She added: “Today I have written to Dame Cressida Dick to ask her to provide me with a detailed response into the panel’s recommendations for the Metropolitan Police and the wider issues outlined within the report.”

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary will investigate the issues raised and a review of the IOPC will be brought forward, specifically looking at the IOPC’s effectiveness and efficiency.

Len Duvall, the London Assembly Member who in 2005 as Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority commissioned a report into the murder,  said the report should not be the end of proceedings.

“Daniel’s family have been badly let down by the police and a full public apology from the Metropolitan Police and other agencies involved in the case should be quickly forthcoming,” he said.

“The Met and the Home Office must provide concrete reassurances that these failings will be accounted for, will never again be repeated, and that that action will be taken to demonstrate such a commitment.”

Morgan’s family have spent decades fighting a complex campaign that included a podcast to raise awareness.

Through their lawyer, they said: “We welcome the recognition that we – and the public at large – have been failed over the decades by a culture of corruption and cover up in the Metropolitan Police, an institutionalised corruption that has permeated successive regimes in the Metropolitan Police and beyond to this day.”

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[BizzieBee 100]

14 hours ago, Fedster said:

1987

 

14 hours ago, Fedster said:

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has been urged to consider resigning by the family of Daniel Morgan following inquiry findings that the force had been institutionally corrupt in its handling of investigations into his murder.

🤨

[Zulu 22 + 4,574]

I am not a fan of Cressida Dick but, they never detected the "Jack the Ripper" murders either so, perhaps she should resign.

Investigations have taken huge steps since 1987.

[Wikicop20 + 186]

Do you think the Commissioner will resign?

They don't normally last that long anyway it seems.